by Mark Leon Goldberg

The American Prospect

04/04/05

By now, John Bolton's crass assessment of the utility of 10 floors of the UN building in New York is well known. Known, too, is his disdain for the very idea of international law and his dealings with foreign agents. Indeed, in his decades in and out of public service and think tankdom, he has developed a reputation as one of Washington's less diplomatic figures. ... The challenge for Democrats is to prove Bolton's radicalism. ... But Bolton has fought this battle before. In Bush's first term, he narrowly won confirmation as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. ... If he wins confirmation this time around, it will likely be because he's able to convince the moderate Republicans that ... he'll serve only as a steward of Bush's agenda at the United Nations and will not pursue his own agenda. And that may just work, for he's hoodwinked the committee with that line before...

http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=9437


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp